Timeless: The Capture of Benedict Arnold

At the start of “Timeless’s” beloved first season, historian Lucy (Abigail Spencer) had her first face-off with time terrorist/dreamboat Flynn (Goran Visnjic) amid the flaming wreckage of the Hindenburg. Then, we learned these two have extraordinarily intriguing chemistry together — and more importantly, that Flynn has in his possession a journal about their adventures together (which Lucy hasn’t yet written, because: time travel.) The existence of this diary has loomed over the events of this season, as Lucy hid its existence from her teammates, and later, emboldened by their advice, chose to chart a different course for herself.

And yet, here we are in the midseason finale, with Lucy and Flynn facing off yet again — not backgrounded by fire, but in the endlessly dark, slightly claustrophobic woods near the home of Rittenhouse The Person (which: More on the later). In a convenient bit of costuming, Lucy’s historical ensemble of the week owes as much to Grimm’s fairy tales as to 18th century patriot wear. When she swoops in, all flying cloak and righteous indignation, to become a human shield for a young child, it is an instantly iconic moment for the show and her character.

Seeing these two square off again emphasizes how both have changed since their initial interaction. In the pilot, Lucy had not yet lost her sister to time purgatory — and she viewed the events from a binary of good-versus-evil and, more importantly, saw her time travelling as a one-off gig. Now, Lucy is a veteran time traveler, devoted to the cause as she strives to find her sister and fix everything… And notably, she’s learned more about Flynn’s motivations. While he is still in most ways the same rakish bad guy she went after in that first mission, she gets how they’re on the same page: Trying to change the past to bring his family back to life.